And, as a special treat, here are two reviews I did for "Suspense Magazine". We reviewers turned in too many this month, so I'm releasing these here instead. But more reviews are in the publication, which you really should subscribe to!

Without further ado, I present the two reviews of two very different books published in late 2010.

“Jane and the Madness of Lord Byron” by Stephanie Barron:

To read this series is to be transported to Regency England, to the decadence of the Prince Regent that flourished alongside the strict morals professed by the proper folk. It's as if Stephanie Barron time-traveled to 1813 to absorb every nuance of custom and conversation, then hurried back to set it all down for us. The fascinating, bizarre cast includes the Prince Regent, of course (Prinny), Lord Byron, and Lady Caroline Lamb. These last two dissolute characters, the author says, were actually tamed down in her version, and they're wild!

In its leisurely, elegant way, the novel brings us to the death of Jane Austen's beloved sister-in-law, Eliza, Comtesse de Feuillide, and the wife of her brother, Henry. The dying woman seems to whisper something to Jane as she expires. Regret?Jane isn't quite sure what she heard. She is writing her third novel, Mansfield Park, and plans to publish it anonymously, as she has her first two. Miss Austen is not as absorbed in it as she would like, though, and agrees to accompany Henry to Brighton to dispel the gloom caused by Eliza's death.

On their way, Jane rescues a girl of fifteen, Catherine Twining, who has been abducted, bound and gagged, from the coach of Lord Byron! Byron, otherwise known as George Gordon, has just published his epic poem, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, and every woman in England swoons when he draws near. Every woman but Catherine, with whom Byron is obsessed. Even Jane has to fight a physical attraction to see clearly whether or not he's guilty of the murder with which he's charged. The corrupt officials want to say the crime is solved, but have no interest in uncovering any facts, or even questioning anyone. It's up to Jane to see that justice is done.

A most satisfactory trip through springtime madness on the coast of England in a bygone time.

This thriller starts out fast and speeds up. Kai Tanaka, loving father of thirteen-year-old Lani, and equally loving husband of Rachel, finds he must risk his job with the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center to save his family. An event unprecedented in human history, but one which has actually been predicted for some time, could throw his world into chaos.

Kai is acting director of the PTWC when strange events start occurring. Most of the staff is absent or unavailable. Kai and Reggie are alone in the center when an earthquake registers in the south Pacific where one has never occurred. Sensors meant to relay data from various islands then mysteriously fail. At first, they issue a tsunami bulletin, a minor notification that is ignored, as usual. If Kai orders an unneeded evacuation it will cost the islands dearly and Kai may lose his job as a result.

But if he waits too long, it could be too late for the the entire population of Hawaii. The warnings may not only be too late, the standard tsunami procedures may be useless in the face of the unbelievable gigantic rogue wave that he is beginning to suspect is on its way.

His daughter is out of reach and his wife, manager of the swank Grand Hawaiian Hotel, is staying there too long, trying to save her clients, including a group of disabled vets. Lani's best friend, Mia, and her mother Teresa, a third-year medical school resident, have not picked a good time to visit from Seattle. Kai's reckless and irrepressible half-brother, Brad Hopkins, part playboy, part Hell's Angel, refuses to get out of the say and stay in the background during the crisis. But he comes through in the crisis, in his own way.

Kai must choose between losing his job because of a poor decision and losing his wife an daughter as precious minutes tick by, leading to unimaginable catastrophe. This book had me on the edge of my seat, holding my breath in case a wave washed over me.

Let me know if you change your mind about Byron after reading this, Kathy. When we visited Greece, we were in a place where he was, and it was a thrill. He helped the revolutionaries there, which I think I had known at one time and forgotten.